Preparation Activities GESE Grade 5

Preparation Activities GESE Grade 5

Here are some activities to help you to practise the language functions and types of grammar you need
to use in the exam.

Language requirements

Language functions
Talking about the future informing and predicting
Expressing preferences
Talking about events in the indefinite and recent past
Giving reasons
Stating the duration of events
Quantifying

Grammar
Present perfect tense including use with for, since, ever, never, just
Connecting clauses using because
Will referring to the future for informing and predicting
Adjectives and adverbials of quantity, for example: a lot (of), not very much, many
Expressions of preference, for example: I prefer, Id rather

You can also find this information on page 27 of the Exam Information booklet at
www.trinitycollege.com/GESEexaminformation

Practise
present perfect (for example: has/have been, has/have taken)
past simple (for example: went, took)
future using will

Your diary
Day one
At the end of the day:
write five things youve done (present perfect).
For example:
Ive washed the dishes.
Ive watched the news on TV.
Ive made 10 phone calls.

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 Preparation Activities GESE Grade 5

Day two
As above:
write five things youve done today.
Now:
write five things you did yesterday on day one (past simple).
For example: Yesterday I washed the dishes. I watched the news on TV. I made 10 phone calls.

Day three
As above:
write five things youve done today (present perfect)
write five things you did yesterday (past simple).
Now:
write five things you think youll do tomorrow (future using will).
For example: Tomorrow Ill pay my electricity bill. Ill go shopping at the supermarket.

Day four
Write five things youve done or havent done today (present perfect).
Write five things you did yesterday (past simple).
Write five things youll do tomorrow (future with will).
For example: Today I havent paid my electricity bill. Ive been to the supermarket.

Day five/six/seven
Try to do this exercise for a week.

Practise
present perfect (for example: has/have moved, has/have changed)
past simple (for example: was/were, put)
a lot (of), not very much/many

Spot the difference

You can do this in any room.
Ask someone (a friend, a family member) to move or change 10 objects in the room while you
wait outside.
When you come back in, try to find the differences.
For example:
Youve moved the armchair. (present perfect) It was next to the window. (past simple)
Youve switched on the lamp.
Were there a lot of changes? How many?

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 Preparation Activities GESE Grade 5

Practise
preferences (for example: I prefer, Id rather)

Write down pairs of words. For example: jogging/swimming, potatoes/rice, films/documentaries,

TV/cinema, classical music/pop music.
Decide which one you prefer: For example: I prefer jogging to swimming.
Ask a friend: Which do you prefer?
During the day think about things you see and hear compare them. For example: I prefer blue to
green. I prefer mornings to evenings. I prefer having a shower to having a bath. Id rather go to the
park than go shopping.

Practise
the duraction of events (for example: for, since)
giving reasons (because)

How long?
Complete the table below.
For example:
I can hold my breath for one minute.
I usually boil eggs for five minutes.
I went to Scotland for a week.
Id love to go on holiday for a month.

for one minute

for five minutes

for 10 minutes

for an hour

for a week

for a month

for a year

for 10 years

for ever!

Show a friend what youve written. Ask him or her to comment on it. For example:
I dont like eggs very much. Id put do the washing up because that takes me about five minutes
every morning.
Ive never been to Scotland but Id like to go there.
Id like to go to the seaside for a week. Ive wanted to do that since I was a child.

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 Preparation Activities GESE Grade 5

Practise
The subject areas for the Conversation Phase of GESE Grade 5 are:

Festivals
Means of transport
Special occasions, for example: birthday celebrations
Entertainment, for example: cinema, television
Music
Recent personal experiences

Interview a friend
Choose one of the subjects and think of five questions to ask someone about it. Try to make your
questions using these language items:
Question one (present perfect): Have you ?
Question two: Why ?
Question three: Will ?
Question four: How much/many/often ?
Question five: prefer ?
Now practise interviewing a friend or someone in your family. Think about all the subject areas and what
you could say for each one.

Remember!
The examiner will choose just two of the subject areas to talk to you about.
The examiner isnt testing your knowledge of the subjects, just your language.